*In a mountainous region where storm clouds are forming and thunder can be heard, two spies from the kingdom of Brister are running away from mercenaries hired to kill them. The spies are a man named Zeke with blue hair and green eyes while the other is a short young dark-skinned merfolk girl named Sera with long curly purple hair and red eyes. Zeke is pulling Sera by her arm as they run through the mountain’s fields*
(Zeke): Hurry Sera, they’re gaining on us.
*As they continued to run it started to rain and Sera slipped in some mud. As Sera tried to get back up, she saw a mercenary with a spear lunging at her from behind. Paralyzed with fear, Sera couldn’t move and was preparing herself for death. Just before the spear could make contact with her, Zeke jumped in front of her and used his body as a shield to protect her. The spear pierced through Zeke’s chest and blood starts to fill up in his mouth. The spear gets pulled out by the mercenary and Zeke falls to his knees as he looks back on Sera one last time smiling*
(Zeke): Keep running Sera. I’ll catch up with you short-
*Before Zeke could finish his sentence his head was sliced off by a sword courtesy of a mercenary. The lifeless body of Zeke fell to the ground as did his head. Tears filled the eyes of Sera as she attempted to get back up and run away only to get caught by her hair and pulled to the ground by a mercenary with a sword where she’s surrounded by 9 mercenaries*
(Sera): No! Let go!
(Sword mercenary): We were told to kill the two spies that escaped, but the boss didn’t say we couldn’t have any fun before finishing the job.
*The other mercenaries smirk with joy as fear and shock filled up within Sera’s eyes. Two mercenaries hold her down by her arms while a third one tries to open her legs as Sera screams in terror for what’s about to happen*
(???): Enough!
*Cried out a man who was slowly approaching them. The man approaching them was wearing a straw hat to protect himself from the rain, he had long emerald green hair tied up in a ponytail, purple colored eyes, wore a samurai’s kimono that was emerald green, and had cloud patterns on the bottom part of the kimono. On his waist was a samurai’s sword with his left hand resting on the handle and in his right hand was an umbrella. The man’s appearance got the attention of the mercenaries who were not intimidated nor amused by him interrupting their fun*
(Samurai): What is the meaning of this disgusting display of debauchery?
(Sword mercenary): Hey buddy, who the hell are you?
(Samurai): I have no business giving my name to trash like you. I have business with that young lady, now step aside.
(Sword mercenary): If you were hoping to have a round with her the back of the line is that way.
*The sword mercenary motioned to the line behind him which agitated the samurai a little. He respected women and didn’t like how they were about to treat her like some toy for their pleasure*
(Sword mercenary): Pitiful. Don’t you have any shame in what you’re doing? Where is your honor?
*The samurai’s statement earns a good laugh from the mercenaries*
(Mercenary #1): Get a load of this guy.
(Mercenary #2): What are you? Some kind of samurai from a bygone era?
(Sword mercenary): Look buddy, things like honor really have no place in the world. All that matters is getting paid and getting whatever perks that come along with it. That’s the life of a mercenary.
(Samurai): Interesting. I guess even pieces of shit like you have their philosophy about life.
*The samurai’s remark made the mercenaries stop laughing and made them stare angrily at the samurai*
(Sword mercenary): I think somebody needs to be taught some manners. Clay.
*The mercenary holding the spear who killed Zeke begins to walk toward the samurai who showed no fear or worry as Clay approached him. Clay prepared to strike as magical lightning particles surrounded his spear to electrify it. Clay thrusts forward at the samurai only to hit air and see that the samurai was nowhere to be seen. Looking behind him, Clay sees that that the samurai is by the head of Sera and the two mercenaries holding her down by her arms. The samurai’s sword is out and in his right hand and he puts it away*
(Clay): What? When did-
*Before Clay can finish his sentence, blood comes gushing out of his chest and he falls to the ground face first dying in a pool of his own blood. The two mercenaries holding down Sera had blood gushing from their necks instantly killing them. Before the blood could splatter on Sera, the samurai used the umbrella to shield her from the blood as the rest of the mercenaries backed away shocked at what they just saw. The samurai gets in front of Sera to protect her from the rest of the mercenaries and get their attention.
(Samurai): Leave now and you may live. Face me and I shall make your deaths quick and painful.
(Sword mercenary): Bring me his head!
*The rest of the mercenaries slowly surrounded the samurai and Sera. The samurai looks down at Sera who is visibly shaking*
(Samurai): It’s okay. My name is Sanada. I was sent by Brister to protect you. Please remain calm and don’t move from that spot. This will be over shortly.
*One of the mercenaries took advantage of the momentary distraction to get the jump on Sanada, but he sensed the mercenary coming and quickly drew his sword slashing the mercenary in two with a diagonal upward slash across the chest. Another mercenary tried to attack from behind, but Sanada quickly turned around to slice that mercenary with a diagonal downward slash across the chest slicing the mercenary in two as well. One mercenary tried to attack Sera, but the mercenary was quickly killed by Sanada who thrust his sword into the side of the mercenary and hit him with a shoulder tackle to send him flying backwards where he lands by the feet of the remaining three mercenaries. The two mercenaries with knives and a halberd began to attack Sanada with their weapons swinging away at him all while the sword mercenary stood back and watched. Sanada dodged the attacks of the two mercenaries with ease all while Sera watched captivated by his graceful movements*
(Sera): Amazing. He anticipates all of their attacks and flows with them. Despite being outnumbered and dealing with this harsh weather he maintains a calm mind like the wind on a warm sunny day.
*Sanada continues to dodge the attacks of the mercenaries and puts some distance between them and him where he takes a deep breath and changes up his fighting stance by putting his sword above his head instead of holding it in front of him like he had been doing previously.
(Sanada): Tornado Stance: 3 Current Slash!
*Moving as fast as the wind, Sanada stands in front of the mercenary with the knives and performs three slashes chopping his head and arms off in the process before the mercenary could react to his attack. The mercenary with the halberd drops his weapon and begins to run away for his life all while screaming. Sanada didn’t pursue him and instead let him go. The one mercenary who Sanada sent flying with his shoulder tackle was still alive and crawling on the ground crying out for mercy. The sword mercenary heard his cry, walked over to him, and stabbed the mercenary with his sword to end his life all while Sanada watched him*
(Sanada): So even you know how to end a person’s suffering.
(Sword mercenary): Unfortunately, you won’t get the same treatment he had. I’m going to make you suffer and I’m going to enjoy every minute of it.
*The mercenary’s sword catches fire as he concentrated to gather magical fire particles around it. He thrusts the sword into the ground as a ring of fire instantly flares up surrounding him and Sanada. Sera was forced to watch from outside the ring of fire*
(Sword mercenary): I recognize that swordplay of yours, it’s the swordplay of the Wind School. You use speed and precise strikes to overwhelm and defeat your opponents. The best thing to do against guys like you is to limit your movements.
*The sword mercenary takes out a shield and prepares to fight. Sanada swings his sword to get the blood off of it and changes his fighting stance once again by putting both hands on his sword and brings it up to the side of his head all while holding the sword horizontally.
(Sanada): Hurricane Stance: Pistol Thrust!
*Just as fast as the wind once again, Sanada dashes toward the mercenary with a thrust attack only for the sword mercenary to block the attack with his shield and then counters with a slash that gets blocked by Sanada. The two keep blocking their attacks as sparks and fire fly between their swords before the two get into a deadlock. Sanada breaks the deadlock realizing the fire will damage his sword and jumps back from the sword mercenary. The sword mercenary presses a button on his shield which fires off a flamethrower at Sanada who rolls out of the way where his hat gets caught on fire. Sanada quickly tosses the hat to avoid getting burned. The flamethrower stops and Sanada takes a deep breath to prepare for his attack*
(Sanada): Hurricane Stance: Chaotic Rush!
*Sanada comes charging at the sword mercenary unleashing a flurry of slashes which get blocked by the shield of the sword mercenary. Sanada’s attacks are so fast, precise, and powerful that the mercenary can barely keep up his defense. The mercenary soon loses his grip on the shield and it goes flying into the air. The mercenary tries to block with his sword but he is too slow as Sanada slices off the sword arm of the sword mercenary leaving him completely defenseless and he finishes off the mercenary with a series of slashes that slice up the body of the sword mercenary and leave him dead with his body parts falling to the ground. The ring of fire gets put out by the rain and Sera goes to check on Sanada to make sure he’s okay*
(Sera): Are you alright?
(Sanada): I’m fine. And you?
(Sera): Yes. But-
*Sera trails off in the direction of where Zeke’s body lies. She begins to tear up as Sanada places a hand on her shoulder*
(Sanada): I’m sorry I couldn’t get here sooner. Let us prepare a proper burial for him.
*Sanada and Sera dig a hole and place Zeke’s body in it before burying him in the dirt. After properly burying the body of Zeke they say a prayer and begin on their journey back to the capital of Brister*
SHADOW EY
Author’s Note: Hey guys. It’s been a while hasn’t it? First off, thank you all for your patience and for checking out the preview for my light novel. I’m sure by now you’ve all figured out the title of it. When I started writing this novel I knew I was going to have a swordsman so coming up with a character like Sanada was easy. In fact, I think out of all the characters I created this was by far the easiest character for me. The name Sanada comes from Sanada Yukimura the samurai general who led the defending side during the Siege of Osaka. He was nicknamed the Hero who may appear once in a hundred years. I thought that was a cool nickname and that’s what I wanted my Sanada to be like. A once an a century character. The last name Kudoyama is an actual town in Japan where Yukimura and his father were exiled to and the Sanada clan is quite famous around those parts. His fighting style is based off of Jin Sakai’s fighting style from Ghost of Tsushima, so look forward to seeing his various stances. His personality was based of Jin from Samurai Champloo as well as the New Japan wrestler, Sanada. I just like their cool and stotic personalities and how they’re both silent guys who don’t talk much and instead let their actions do the talking for them. Alright guys, that’s all for now. We have one more preview and it’s coming on September 1st, my birthday. Thanks for reading again and I’ll see you next time.